You are here

Larry Mendoza

I was born in the city of Catania in Sicily, Italy in 1976 and was raised Roman Catholic by my mother. My mother is full blooded Sicilian and my father is full blooded Filippino. At the age of 13, we moved to the United States of America. My passion for animals led me to study biology in college which led me to a Master's degree in Biology. My thesis dissertation dealt with the characterization of a protein excreted by the parasite that causes Malaria.

It wasn't until my early 20s that my doubts about religion started to really gnaw at me. I became an "apatheist" and believed in a "live and let live" doctrine. However, the growing movement from the Christian Right and George W Bush's presidency led me to become an atheist activist. Primarily, the infringement of religion in science class was what really did it for me.

I was a moderator for the Rational Response Squad for in 2007 before moving to Northern Virginia and joining Beltway Atheists, Inc.
I'm now on the Board of Directors of Beltway Atheists, Inc. a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to growing and empowering the Atheist community. This involves both creating and providing opportunities for Atheists to come out, socialize, and meet each other. We are also interested in activism in our community and in the US in defense of the Constitutional separation of church and state.

My interests include the evolution/creationism debate and I have been an invited speaker for Loudoun Atheists, Richmond Humanists and the Dominion High School Freethinkers student group to give talks on this issue. In 2013 I became host of Road to Reason and have interviewed Richard Dawkins, Andy Thompson, Syqnys, Matthew Chapman among many others.

I'm also the former vice president, former president and immediate past-president of the Virginia Herpetological Society a 501c3 research, education and conservation organization for Virginia's native reptiles and amphibians.

I love metal music, fly fishing, backpacking and science.

I was born in the city of Catania in Sicily, Italy in 1976 and was raised Roman Catholic by my mother. My mother is full blooded Sicilian and my father is full blooded Filippino. At the age of 13, we moved to the United States of America. My passion for animals led me to study biology in college which led me to a Master's degree in Biology. My thesis dissertation dealt with the characterization of a protein excreted by the parasite that causes Malaria.

It wasn't until my early 20s that my doubts about religion started to really gnaw at me. I became an "apatheist" and believed in a "live and let live" doctrine. However, the growing movement from the Christian Right and George W Bush's presidency led me to become an atheist activist. Primarily, the infringement of religion in science class was what really did it for me.

I was a moderator for the Rational Response Squad for in 2007 before moving to Northern Virginia and joining Beltway Atheists, Inc.
I'm now on the Board of Directors of Beltway Atheists, Inc. a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to growing and empowering the Atheist community. This involves both creating and providing opportunities for Atheists to come out, socialize, and meet each other. We are also interested in activism in our community and in the US in defense of the Constitutional separation of church and state.

My interests include the evolution/creationism debate and I have been an invited speaker for Loudoun Atheists, Richmond Humanists and the Dominion High School Freethinkers student group to give talks on this issue. In 2013 I became host of Road to Reason and have interviewed Richard Dawkins, Andy Thompson, Syqnys, Matthew Chapman among many others.

I'm also the former vice president, former president and immediate past-president of the Virginia Herpetological Society a 501c3 research, education and conservation organization for Virginia's native reptiles and amphibians.